Month: March 2011

I watched this video because I’ve been following @unmarketing for a while, and an earlier tweet of his mentioned “Nice job Adobe“… which is something I haven’t heard in a while. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve heard “nice” and “Adobe” in the same sentence in a decade. Curious as to what Adobe had finally stepped up to do, I clicked the link.

A decent presentation interface popped up. Or hovered in, or something. I scanned it momentarily, and then the audio and video kicked in. Within seconds I forgot about the interface, stopped scanning the page looking for Adobe’s greatness, and was locked in to listening to Scott Stratten speak about marketing.

Few speakers are engaging and dynamic enough to keep my attention for more than a few minutes. If I’m not wiser, more motivated, more educated, more empowered, or simply more entertained as a result of what they’re sharing within two minutes, I move on. My time is important. But he had me within seconds. The only other presenter who can do that for me is Steve Jobs, but that’s because I know what to expect with him, so even a bad start is worth waiting through. With Jobs, it’s as much for the products he brings as it is for the opportunity to hear his passion.

Without question, Stratten’s passion had me hooked. As a systems developer and business consultant, topics around social media and customer engagement will always catch my eye, but rarely do they keep me glued to the couch tolerating a burning hot laptop singeing my knees for 45 minutes.

I can’t add anything more meaningful to this except to say that it’s awesome, and it’s worth your time to watch. Plus, I had to post this before 10pm… watch the video to learn why.

But I will add this. As a guy who cares about companies engage with their customers, and has been overly vocal and passionate about them (like here, with Esso, Kicking Horse, or Yog Active), Scott made one statement that really resonated with me, especially in light of my own experiences:

To be great at customer service, you only have to be average, because everybody else sucks.

Go out tomorrow, and in whatever business you’re in… make sure you’re at least average.